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PROPOSED CONTRACT AMENDMENT
Department(s): Department of Resource Management
Vendor: Friends of the Forest Preserves, Chicago, Illinois
Request: Authorization for the Forest Preserve of Cook County (the “Forest Preserves”) to increase contract
Good(s) or Service(s): Palos Conservation Corps Program
Original Contract Period: 1/1/2018 - 12/31/2022
Proposed Contract Period Extension: N/A
Total Current Contract Amount Authority: $750,000.00
Original Approval: 11/14/2017
Previous Increase(s): N/A
This Increase Requested: $75,000.00
Estimated Fiscal Impact: FY 2022 $225,000.00 (including previously approved amounts)
Accounts: Professional Services 51031.520840; Grant and Mitigation 51010.521444 and 51010.520840
Contract Number(s): #74000002912 issued under RFP #17-31-117
Concurrences:
The Chief Financial Officer has approved this item. Final amendment is subject to legal review and approval.
District(s): Districtwide
Summary: The Forest Preserves is requesting an increase in the overall authority for this program to accommodate State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (“SLFRF”) allocated to Cook County through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) for workforce development. These additional funds will supplement and expand capacity for this program for fiscal year 2022.
The Palos Conservation Corps Program engages four participants, one crew manager, and one assistant crew manager in hands-on ecological restoration work to restore habitat in the Palos region. Highly skilled participants contribute to herbaceous and woody invasive species control, prescribed burn, and native seed collection activities. Additionally, the Palos Conservation Corps hosts volunteer workdays in partnership with the local site stewards to bolster volunteer recruitment and engagement in the region. The Palos Conservation Corps Program is administered by Friends of the Forest Preserves through a contract issued under RFP #17-31-117, which was originally approved by the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board of Commissioners on 11/14/2017 (Board Item No. 17-0390). Conservation Corps programs provide youth and young adult participants with paid environmental education and job skills training within the conservation field, with a focus on ecological restoration in the Forest Preserves.
The Forest Preserves intends to issue through its public solicitation process a Request for Proposals for additional Conservation Corps opportunities to bring to the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board of Commissioners for approval later in 2022.
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